Sderot reservists refuse to serve over abandonment of homes

One hundred residents from the southern town of Sderot are refusing to do army reserve duty until a solution is found to the ongoing Palestinian rocket fire against their town.

Both officers and regular soldiers from the secular and religious communities have joined the petition, which accuses the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of having abandoned their families and homes.

“We, reserves soldiers and officers from Sderot, have been brought up on the values of Zionism, Judaism and the sacrifice for the state and its citizens. We used to believe that army service was a privilege and a duty for the State of Israel and its residents, and that this was the only way to ensure the existence of a safe home for the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora,” read a portion of the petition carried by Ynet.

The letter went on to note that reservists from Sderot readily answered the call last summer to help defend northern Israel against Hizballah aggression, but now feel that their sacrifice in that conflict is being spat upon.

“We refuse to have our children and the children of the region continue being the State of Israel's cannon fodder,” the reservists concluded.

Captain Adi Azran, one of the signatories to the petition, said the measure became necessary after seven years of rocket attacks on Sderot and surrounding communities without any firm government action to defend the area and eliminate the threat.

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